Striped Victorian trousers.

I love sewing historical costumes and I love my husband and my son but somehow these facts don't translate in me loving sewing victorian trousers. Be honest, trousers are boring compared to the nice sparkly ladies costumes! This year my son decided that he didn't want to be an urchin any more. He wants an nice suit. I got out out of sewing an entire suit by buying a, what I guess to be, a 1950's gentleman's wedding suit. Unfortunately the pair of trousers that came with it didn't fit. So I didn't get out of making him a pair. When my husband found out he sweetly reminded me that I promised him a new pair, like five years (or more...) ago!

The pair of trousers that I am currently working out started out as my husbands but they magically shrunk while I was working on them! I gues I messed up the measurement or forgot that I needed to add seam allowances. I'd better check what the problem is before I start working on the next pair! Both my men wanted a pair of striped trousers, because for them that is what belongs with a victorian suit. I thought it was worth checking if historically speaking that was true. Looking at what I found plain or plaid trousers were more in favour but there striped pants were worn as well.

1800's The Met

1820's cossack trousers,

Victoria and Albert Museum

ça. 1840, The Met

1848 fashion plate 

Left pin stripes, middle wider stripes.

coeurdelhistoire

 Il Gionale dei Sarti September 1850 

Source: cutterandtailor.com

1870's 

Source: Victoriana.com

1880's, RISD Museum

Fashion plate from Sartorial Arts Journal, 1891, 

Gladys Marcus Library, FIT

c. 1900 white cotton & blue pinstripe trousers

Augusta Auctions

Althoug I only did a very superficial on the matter I did feel that after the 1860's examples became easier to find. Maybe they became more fashionable?